Coming Home
by The Water Drinker
Summary: Yugi is distraught over the Pharaoh having to leave. Until one day, he returns home to find the ruler of ancient Egypt lounging about in his room. However, Atem does not seem to remember anything but his past life. Only his soul seems to remember the feelings they shared – how important Yugi was to him. Is it really Atem's fault for misinterpreting those feelings for desire?
1. Chapter 1

_Something something disclaimer something. Don't own anything blah. Yeh._

* * *

"And so class, as a result of the phenomenon of..." A teacher droned on about something most of the kids in a crowded, little classroom either didn't hear or weren't paying attention to. Just another day. Another boring lecture.

Yugi sat at his desk in a slumped position. He leaned his head in his open hand, and let out a despondent sigh. He felt like he was just going through the motions. Every day felt like a waste. Wasted time that could be better spent doing something important. Something that mattered, and here he was sitting in a classroom listening to his teacher babble on about a subject that no one would even remember by the time they walked out.

It all just seemed so... mundane. Too slow-paced.

And he blamed it all on the pharaoh, because honestly, who better to blame? It wasn't every day one person could just walk into one's life and flip it all upside down. Everything that he knew and thought he knew just flipped sunny side up. Not that Yugi didn't believe one person couldn't turn someone else's world around, but not completely flip it, shake it up like an afternoon milkshake, toss and spin it in the air a few good times like an Italian pizza, and kick it like a good game of kick the can just for good measure. No, nothing like that.

They saved the world together. They were a part of each other. Opposite sides to the same coin. His other half.

And then he left. Just like that. Gone out of his life so suddenly it left a hole in his heart and a weight in his stomach. Back to the afterlife where he belonged with all of his friends and family, because it wasn't like Yugi was one of the pharaoh's closest friends now or anything. _Yugi_ was just a coincidence. A victim of circumstance. He was simply the one to find and finish the puzzle first. Or maybe he was just being a pouty, little brat.

"Pssssst, Yug'!" Yugi turned his head in the direction of the barely suppressed whisper. Joey had a goofy grin on his face when he got Yugi's attention. "Think I can tag Kaiba other there with one o' these here spit balls?"

Yugi's face took on a look of unease. He shook his head at his best friend. "Joey, I don't think that's a good idea."

"It's always a good idea if it involves moneybags gettin' his feathers ruffled." Joey's grin turned wolfish. The blond picked up a straw that he had most likely saved from lunch, and loaded his mini spit-gun - aimed and was ready to fire.

Yugi panicked when it seemed Joey had no intention of listening to him at all. "Wait! Joey, don't do it!"

Just as Joey took a deep breath into his lungs, Yugi leaned over in his seat to grab onto him in an attempt to get him to stop. However, it only served to redirect the bullet, and it landed smack dab in the middle of their teacher's forehead.

Both Joey and Yugi froze in place. Their teacher's monologue halted abruptly as soon as the spitball made contact. A heavy silence fell over the classroom. It was only broken when Yugi heard Joey mumble out a, "Well, shit."

It was like being in the eye of the storm before being thrown into the hurricane. So quiet and eerie that Joey and Yugi shared a worried glance. A final, "Farewell, my friend. I have known thee well."

When the teacher finally did speak, his voice was so booming it had Yugi and Joey nearly jumping three feet in the air.

" _Detention!_ "

* * *

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall! Sing it with me, Yug'!"

Him and Joey were charged with mopping up the floors of the school for their detention. As Yugi had never had a detention in his life, he wasn't quite as enthused as his best friend.

Yugi pushed the mop forward along the floor of the hallway. He grimaced at the small spot he had wiped. This was no easy task for one with such short arms. And _all_ the hallways for that matter? They'd be here for the rest of the day. Yugi let out a sigh. "I don't think I want to sing that."

Joey pouted at Yugi's glum behavior. "Aw, c'mon." When he got a good look at Yugi's forlorn face, he let out a sigh of his own. The blond mopped with less enthusiasm now as he turned his gaze to stare down at the floor. "This is about the pharaoh, isn't it?"

His face flushed slightly in embarrassment. Was it really so obvious? "No... What makes you say that?"

Joey raised a blond eyebrow at him. "Yug', ya look like someone up and slapped ya in the face and told ya that you would never be allowed to eat pizza for the rest of your _life_!"

Yugi stopped in his action of mopping the floor to stare up at his friend in surprise by the seriousness of his tone. He managed a smile despite his dampened mood. "Joey, I think that would only make _you_ really sad."

Joey looked horrified at the implied notion. "You mean that _doesn't_ freak you out?!" And Yugi laughed, because the look on his friend's face was truly priceless. The taller boy went back to his pouting. "This _is_ about the pharaoh. I know it. You've been lookin' all sad and gloomy ever since he had to go."

What little amusement Yugi had been feeling felt like it was just zapped from his body. He drooped against the handle of his mop. His face fell into a saddened frown. He felt like a little, wilted flower with no sunlight.

"I guess."

Joey let out another sigh, and scratched idly at his honey-colored locks. "You wanna... I dunno, go out and watch a movie or play duel monstas after this or somethin'?"

He just felt so disheartened. Nothing really seemed as colorful or interesting as it used to be. "I don't know, Joey."

The taller boy's face held a look full of pity. "Yug'..." Yugi looked up to his friend. "You should go out and do something else. Get your mind off it. Ya can't keep sittin' here thinkin' about it all day. It's only gonna make it worse. Give ya more time to think about all the things you coulda said or coulda done."

Well now that he said that... there were things Yugi wished he had said. Maybe he should have told Atem how important he was to him. How intrinsically the pharaoh seemed to just belong within Yugi's heart, body and soul. Maybe he wouldn't have left if he had told him these things. But that thought was selfish. He knew it. There was no other alternative. The pharaoh had to leave.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little tired. I think I want to just go home."

Joey seemed disappointed by his response, but Yugi could hardly find it within himself to change his mind on the matter.

"All right. Call me if you change your mind then. You know where I'll be."

Yugi gave his friend a small smile. "Thanks Joey."

And Joey sent a saddened smile back. "No prob'."

* * *

Yugi and Joey had finally been able to leave after a good full two hours of mopping up the floors. The silence that had stretched between them afterwards had been awkward and almost unbearable. Yugi didn't want to have to see his friend so down because of him. He'd rather keep his problems to himself if he had to. There was no sense in bringing his friends down with him.

Yugi walked slowly to his house. Neighbors occasionally waved to him, and Yugi would force himself to wave back. He felt immature and selfish. Everyone was trying to be positive and happy, and all he could do was sulk about with a storm cloud practically hovering over his head.

He hoped he would be able to move past this whole sad phase. Sooner rather than later. He didn't want to keep having to turn his friends down whenever they asked to go out and do something. It wasn't fair to them.

Yugi trudged up the path to the Kame Game shop with steps that felt heavily weighed down. He sighed gloomily as he opened the door and stepped inside.

As soon as he did, however, something immediately seemed amiss. Yugi became hesitant as he lifted a hand to turn on the light to the game shop. Light illuminated the interior, and he noticed with shock that everything was trashed.

Fear seized his chest as he looked around at the mess frantically. The first thoughts that came to his mind were, _"A burglary? Did someone break in? Where is my grandpa? Did he go out? What happened?"_

Cards and games were strewn all over the floor. Bits of broken glass from the display cabinets were scattered among them. Yugi gingerly walked around it all on the tips of his feet as he maneuvered his way through the wreckage. He first made his way to the kitchen. It was in a similar state of disarray. It looked like someone had nearly cleaned them out of all of their food. Yugi eyed the mess warily. He looked back over his shoulder at the front of the shop. Yes, everything was all over the place, but nothing appeared stolen. The cash register looked to be in pristine condition as well, as if it hadn't even been considered when whatever came through had destroyed the place.

Yugi moved forward, and walked up the stairs as quietly as he could. He looked down the hallway and noticed a vase of flowers had been knocked over. It was shattered on the floor. Yugi continued to move forward.

It was when he heard a sound that his heart started to speed up and he froze where he stood. He took a moment to figure out where it had come from. After looking around, he deduced that the sound had come from his room. The door was slightly cracked open. Yugi swallowed a lump in his throat and crept over to his room.

As soon as he was at his door, he tried to look inside, but he couldn't see enough through the small opening. He inhaled and exhaled deeply and, using as much courage as he could muster, threw the door open in one fast, swift motion. It swung on its hinges and hit the wall with a thud at the force used to open it. Though, Yugi hardly cared about it, because there was someone burrowing underneath the blankets on his bed.

The intruder jumped up in surprise. Slowly, the blanket fell off of the hidden form, and what Yugi saw took his breath away. Ruby-colored eyes stared at him in curious wonder and shock. When they moved up his petite body, red met violet, and there was only one thing that left his mouth. He screamed.

And the other let out a deep bellow right along with him.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for all of the favorites, reviews and follows!_

* * *

This wasn't exactly what Yugi had been expecting. Definitey not. Maybe a burglar, a crazy hobo, _a wild dog_ , but this? This had to be a dream. He had been so surprised, in fact, that even after his voice had become hoarse from screaming, the only thing he could manage to do was stare. His uninvited guest did the same - actually had the gall to look just as surprised as Yugi himself. As if Yugi was the intruder in this situation.

This honestly had to be some kind of prank. Some joke made by his friends or something to try and lighten his mood. It had to be. How else could what he was seeing be real?

"Ph-pharaoh?"

The person tangled in his bed sheets perked up. He was seemingly surprised by the fact Yugi knew what he was. Atem, _the pharaoh from five-thousand years ago,_ continued to stare at him inquisitively. As if Yugi was some kind of wild animal.

"Hello."

Yugi nearly melted away from hearing that voice again. It felt like such a long time ago since he had last heard it, yet it had only been a few months.

Yugi hadn't noticed before, but once the bed covers had fallen farther down the pharaoh's toned body, he realized the man was naked. A furious blush found its way to the surface of his cheeks. He raised a hand to his face to shield his eyes. It was a reflexive action. He peeked out through his fingers to see Atem assessing him with a calculating gaze. He was seated on Yugi's bed with his legs crossed with an arm draped over his thigh in just the right way to hide his manliness. Yugi was quick to cover his eyes when he realized he just looked down.

"W-why are you naked?"

Atem looked down, and then returned his gaze to Yugi. "I do not know." There was something off about the pharaoh's tone. It sounded different from what he was used to. Like something out of one of those medieval movies he used to watch all the time. "I was trying to find something to clothe myself with, but... this..." Atem gestured around himself at the room, "construction... is not what I am used to."

Yugi moved his hand away from his face and blinked several times in confusion. He wasn't sure what the pharaoh meant by that. Was he saying he wasn't used to a house? That seemed odd considering they shared a body together in this very one. Then he remembered the trashed state of it. Had that been Atem? He wondered why the man would do such a thing. "Did you... trash my house?"

Atem seemed just as confused. "This is a house? It seems more a maze than anything. With its invisible walls and doors that lead to nothing but dead ends."

Invisible walls? Doors that led to dead ends? Yugi looked over to his closet. All of his clothes had been thrown out of it. They were scattered all over the floor in a colorful display of piled fabric. Invisible walls. Was he talking about the display cabinets?

"You're the one who broke all of our display cabinets?" Yugi asked, feeling a little dumbfounded. He lifted a hand to scratch idly at his multicolored locks while he attempted to understand what was going on. He wondered why the pharaoh was acting like he had never seen something as simple as a closet or a glass cabinet.

The pharaoh looked affronted. His eyebrows furrowed in vexation at the term Yugi used to describe the cabinets. "Display cabinets? What were you displaying? Those tiny creatures? They were trapped behind the invisible barriers! I released them."

Yugi tilted his head in nothing short of bewilderment. "Tiny creatures... are you talking about the duel monsters cards? Pharaoh, they're for card games. They're just paper or pasteboard. You've played the game before." Now this was just weird. Atem knew they were just cards. Of course it was based on the ancient games of the past, but the cards themselves weren't alive. The pharaoh knew that, didn't he?

Atem looked even more perturbed when Yugi told him that. "What? That is preposterous. I would never use the ka of my people for a mere game. It is dangerous."

Yugi was rendered speechless by that. Something was definitely wrong with this situation. Atem uncrossed his legs - much to Yugi's discomfort when he watched him do so - and made a move to stand up from the bed. Yugi was rather quick to find his voice again. "H-hold on! Let me find you something to wear."

He saw Atem sit back down on the bed before he scurried over to his closet to find the man something to wear. With Yugi being shorter than the pharaoh, he found it to be difficult to find him something that would be comfortable. After sifting through the pile of clothes on the floor, he settled on a pair of sweatpants and the longest T-shirt he could find for now. He rushed back over to Atem and held them out as he desperately tried to look anywhere but down.

The pharaoh took the offered clothes and stared at them in confusion. "What are these things?"

Yugi had backed away from Atem, but took a peek over at him when he asked that question. Did the ancient ruler not know what a shirt was either? "They're clothes. So you don't have to walk around naked."

Atem looked mystified. "These are garments? How strange." He held up the shirt to examine it. "I thought it was part of a trap to cage one behind the door with no purpose."

Yugi quirked an eyebrow at the pharaoh. "You mean my closet?" He asked as he pointed to it. "It's just for storage." He then wondered, "Why did you think it was a trap?"

He watched as Atem stared over at his closet with narrowed eyes. "Because it assaulted me with them as soon as I opened it."

"Assaulted?" Yugi then had a thought of Atem trying to open his closet door only to have a pile of clothes fall on him. He raised a hand to his mouth in an attempt to quell the giggle that arose. He always had been a bit of pack rat. "Oops."

"Does something amuse you?"

Yugi composed himself and waved his hand about dismissively. "Oh, no. Sorry. Just had a thought." He then started to ponder on how Atem could really be here with him. How was it possible? Atem didn't have the millennium puzzle with him. "Uhm, pharaoh?" Atem looked up at him from his thorough examination of the "trap" that was the shirt. "How did you get here?"

Atem took a minute to consider his question. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked away from Yugi to stare off in thought. After a time, he started, "I do not know. I awoke here, as I am now." Atem's voice then softened as he continued, almost to himself. "It was as if I had awoken from a pleasant dream. I confess, I was not as alarmed to be here as I would have expected myself to be. I find it... comforting. Familiar." The pharaoh took another look around the room as if to try and gauge its secrets.

Yugi thought on what he said in perplexed wonder. Almost as much as the pharaoh seemed to be doing. "So, you have no idea why you're here, Atem? You don't think you came here for a reason?" The last time the pharaoh had come to him, they ended up finding out they had to save the world from a bunch of crazy people who tried to take it over, or who just tried to destroy it all together.

Atem looked over to Yugi sharply, then tilted his head in a way that looked curious. "You know my name?"

He was baffled by that response. "Of course I do! You're the pharaoh of Egypt! Atem! The one who saved the world five-thousand years ago-"

Atem matched his confusion with his own bewildered expression. "What? Five-thousand years ago? What kind of sorcery do you speak of, little man? Who are you?"

It was from that question, that single, simple question, that it dawned on him that Atem had no idea who Yugi was or where he was.

 _"Who are you?"_

It echoed in his mind. He couldn't stop the hurt that took a stab at his heart from hearing it. He gestured to himself with his hand as he spoke. "Atem, it's me. You know, the one who solved the puzzle? The one who helped you save the world again? We shared a body and a mind?" When all he received in response to his probing was a vacant stare, Yugi felt a little deflated. With a saddened tone he said, "You know, Yugi? One of your best friends?" He finished with his head downcast. How could Atem possibly forget him?

Something sparked inside of those crimson eyes as soon as Yugi said his own name. " _Yugi_." Atem said it deliberately slow, as if recalling a fond memory.

Yugi perked up at the response, and lifted his head to stare at the pharaoh with a hopeful gaze. "Do you remember?"

After a moment, Atem shook his head. "It sounds... familiar, but I cannot recall where I have heard the name before."

Although Atem couldn't really remember, it did serve to inspire Yugi. Perhaps he could jog his memory somehow. "We were best friends! We helped each other. I helped you save the world again from a terrible evil. We've been through a lot, and we struggled through some tough times, but we never gave up." Yugi smiled brightly at Atem. "We were a team. A pretty good one too."

The pharaoh's cheeks tinted a shade of pink as he marveled at the boy in front of him. He seemed genuinely moved by Yugi's words. "Oh... Did we do all that?" His expression then turned troubled as he lifted a hand to rest against his forehead. He seemed saddened and bothered that he couldn't remember anything of what Yugi was telling him. "I... cannot remember." His expression turned intrigued, but still a tad troubled. "But I believe you. I do not know why."

Yugi walked over to sit beside him. The fact that Atem was naked had slipped his mind. But Atem had become all too aware of his own nakedness. The pharaoh's blush intensified, and only got worse when Yugi placed a hand on the bare skin of his shoulder. "That's all right. Maybe the longer you're here, the more you might start to remember." Yugi said with another innocently beautiful smile. Atem hadn't seemed to mind that he was naked before. Now he was doing his best to cover himself with the clothes he had been offered earlier.

"Uhm, I am naked."

Yugi rediscovered his own blush at the statement. "Oh... right. Sorry." He quickly hopped off of the bed and scurried a distance away with his back to Atem. "I'll let you put those on then."

It didn't take Atem long to figure out the clothes and put them on. After he was finished, he let out a disgruntled, "All right."

Yugi turned around, and the sight before was somewhat comical and perhaps a little sad. The shirt was still a bit too short for Atem, and it exposed some of his stomach. The sleeves looked pretty snug around his biceps. The pants looked decent enough. The only problem with them was that they were a tad too short and came up to his calves. Yugi had to suppress another giggle. "We'll have to go buy you some clothes at some point." It had never been an issue when they had shared a body.

"I second that."

Yugi chuckled, then headed for the door to his bedroom. "Do you want something to eat? You must be hungry." The concept sounded strange to him as he asked. Seeing Atem with his own body was quite different, but he figured he should ask.

The pharaoh shook his head. "I am not. I ate food from the box that has somehow trapped winter inside of it."

Yugi faltered in his steps when he heard Atem's admission. He had forgotten that Atem had practically rampaged through his house like a tornado. He turned towards the man. "Oh, right. I forgot you destroyed my kitchen."

Atem had the decency to look sheepish. "I apologize. I was hungry, and its contents looked edible."

Yugi let out a sigh, but smiled regardless. He couldn't really blame Atem for making a mess when he had just randomly woken up somewhere he couldn't remember. Five-thousand years into the future no less. "That's all right. I guess you just ate it cold then. I can make you a nice, hot meal if you want."

The pharaoh returned the smile. "I would like that."

Yugi could feel his face warm up at the sincere tone of Atem's voice. "Okay. Follow me then."

So he led Atem to the kitchen. The farther they went, the more Atem had started to spew out little apologies for every little mess they passed. Yugi had almost forgotten how trashed his house was. His grandfather wouldn't be pleased.

At the sudden thought of his grandfather, Yugi stopped walking abruptly. Atem ran into him.

"Do you grow tired of walking, Yugi? Are you in need of aid?"

He turned to face Atem. "What? No. I just remembered that my grandpa isn't here. I should really call him. He's going to be so mad when he sees this mess." He lifted his hand to bite nervously at his fingernails. He didn't even know where his grandfather was. Cleaning the shop would take hours. If his grandfather suddenly walked in...

Yugi then grabbed the pharaoh by the hand and tugged him along to the living room. He didn't hear Atem make any complaints to being led to their destination. Yugi brought him along to the middle of the room where he sat the man down on the couch. It was the only room that wasn't trashed. Atem must not have found it.

The tan-skinned man sat on the couch awkwardly with a bemused expression before looking up at his worried face. "Is there anything I can do?"

Yugi was quick to shake his head. "No, no. It's okay. I just need to call him first." He then began searching around until his eyes landed on the remote to the TV. He grabbed it and turned it on. Then he hastily handed Atem the remote who fumbled with it in his hands. "Here, watch this for a sec'. I'll be right back."

He left the ancient Egyptian pharaoh to his own devices, and made his way out into the hall to pull out his phone. He pressed a few buttons, and placed it to his ear. It didn't take long for his grandfather to answer.

 _"Hello?"_

"Grandpa! Where are you?" Yugi nearly shouted into the phone. He didn't mean to sound so urgent, but his grandfather could be so irresponsible sometimes.

He heard his grandfather start to chuckle nervously after realizing it was his grandson who called him. _"Oh, uh... With a friend."_

Yugi found himself confused. "A friend?"

 _"Just uh..."_ Solomon cleared his throat in between. _"Catching up with a lady friend."_

Yugi didn't think he wanted to hear more of an explanation to that. "Oh... 'kay."

 _"Anyway! I'll be home soon. I closed the shop early, but I want to be ready for an early start tomorrow."_

It was Yugi's turn to let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, m-maybe you should stay with your friend a little while longer."

 _"Hm? Is something wrong, Yugi? You sound nervous."_

"No, no! You just work a lot, you know? You should... take a break! And it sounds like you haven't seen your friend in awhile. You guys should hang out a little longer." Yugi rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. If his grandfather came in to see the mess the pharaoh had made of the shop, well, Yugi didn't really want to know how the older man would react.

There was silence on the other end of the line before his grandfather spoke up, _"Maybe you're right. I am too hard on myself sometimes. And I wouldn't mind spending a little more time with... my friend."_

Yugi didn't have to be able to see his grandfather to imagine the lecherous smile on the old man's face. "Um, yeah, you do that."

 _"All right then, my boy! I'll talk to you when I get back."_

"Yep, see you soon, grandpa." It was the last thing Yugi said before he hung up the phone. He let out a relieved sigh. Then he looked around at his trashed house. "Oh jeez." He really did have his work cut out for him.

He then made his way back inside the living room. He figured he might as well see if he could get Atem to help him clean up before his grandfather came home. He was the cause after all.

When he did step back inside, he saw Atem sitting completely motionless on the couch. His mouth was hung open, and his head was tilted ever so slightly to the side. His eyes were widened in fascination and astonishment. Yugi couldn't help but find it amusing and kind of adorable. "Leave your mouth hanging open like that any longer and you'll catch flies."

Yugi watched as Atem turned his head in his direction without his expression faltering. After a moment, the man said, "I do not understand."

He quirked an eyebrow at the pharaoh. "Don't understand what?" He let out a chuckle when Atem turned back to the screen to stare at it in awe.

"Why do they care so much about who the father is to baby Jeffery? I would be more concerned with how I got trapped inside of a tiny box."

Yugi let out an utterly amused laugh. When Atem looked back over to him in irritation for clearly being teased, he walked over to the ancient ruler to sit down beside him. "It's not real. Well, they're real people, but it's not happening _right now_." When Atem just stared at Yugi in confusion, he continued. "It's just a display made up of tiny, little pixels that come together to make an image. It was recorded in parts and put together by other people. You get it?"

Atem continued to stare at Yugi in amazement. After a moment, he shook his head. "No."

Yugi made a valiant attempt to stifle another laugh. "Well, I'll have to explain it to you more later. Right now, though, my grandpa is going to be back soon, and we need to clean all this up before he gets back." He stood up from the couch and grabbed Atem's hand to pull him up with him. "I don't think I'd be able to clean it up by myself." He then led him back to the front of the shop where the house was most trashed. Atem stared around the room like he had never seen it before. As if silently questioning himself if he was the one that had somehow caused all of this chaos. Yugi grabbed a broom and handed it to the pharaoh who took it into his hands with slight apprehension. Yugi smiled at him. "We have a lot of work to do."

And so began the cleaning.

* * *

 _I hoped you liked this chapter! Please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you all so much for the favorites, reviews and follows!_

* * *

The cleaning of the house had taken quite a long time to do. Mostly because Atem was quite untrained in the art of cleaning. He had not been quite sure what to do with the tool he had been given and instructed to use. The task set before him had been to sweep up the glass he had broken. It seemed a fair enough punishment for the deed, and so Atem had not complained. Nor did he bring up that he had no experience in cleaning anything, much less the impossibly enormous mess he had created in his previous state of confusion when he had first arrived in this strange place.

His host had run off somewhere, presumably to the dining area, while he spouted off something like, "Sweep up a bit in here and make sure there isn't any glass to step on. I'm gonna go clean the kitchen. I'll be back to pick it all up when I'm finished in there."

This had left Atem to stare at the space before him warily. Instrument of cleanliness in hand, he walked forward. Now he was left with figuring out how it worked.

He had eventually placed its bristled end onto the floor, and pushed it forward. He had examined the small spot that he had cleared of the glass with an appraising look. Seemed easy enough.

So he had continued to push the glass around. All the while picking up the poor little creatures that so strongly resembled the monsters back in his time. Yes, back in his time. According to the strange, yet intriguing, boy named Yugi, he was five-thousand years into the future. It seemed improbable. To be propelled into the future, even with the strongest of magics, seemed nigh impossible. Unless, perhaps, the power of the millennium items was used. Had he used one of the millennium items to get here? He tried to recall the last thing he could remember himself doing. It was all very foggy in his mind. When he found he could not remember something so simple, it troubled him. However, he had obviously been in this time before. It was like he knew this place. Knew where to go. And Yugi knew him so well. Yes, the boy seemed to know _a lot_ for someone Atem could not really recall meeting. Typically, that would have been troubling in and of itself.

But he believed Yugi. He felt a kind of trust in the small boy that seemed to go as far down as his very soul. It was all very interesting. What was more interesting still, was that he felt a fierce emotional attachment along with the trust whenever the boy was so much as near him. That emotion took hold of him like the powerful grip of a serpent's coil - a strong urge to protect and keep the other close no matter what.

Yugi had said the two of them had been through a lot together. It left him to wonder. Had they been... something more? It seemed likely. This boy was undoubtedly important to him. Just _how_ important was the question. Had he liked, possibly even loved, this boy? What had happened between them exactly?

"Hey, Atem! Just about finished with the kitchen. Just wanted to come see how you were doing." Atem had turned in the direction of the voice. When his red eyes had caught the other's that shone and sparkled like that of an amethyst gem, something stirred within him - a warmth that had made his heart grow fond and hastened. It was at that moment that his body, heart and soul had come to a certain conclusion. He had to have - just had to - been in love with this young man named Yugi.

"I believe I am making progress." Atem had said as he finally managed to turn his attention away from the entrancing eyes of the smaller one. He beamed with pride at his accomplishment with the room. He had pushed all of the glass up into the edges and corners of the walls. "No one will step on the glass now that it is out of the center." When he had turned back to Yugi, he noticed the boy had an uneasy look about him.

Yugi had tried to give him a reassuring smile, he could tell, but it looked somewhat strained. Had he failed in his task of cleaning? Perhaps he should have informed Yugi of his ignorance when it came to such menial tasks. "Um... that's... very good Atem." Yugi had then walked over to him to take the cleaning tool out of his hands. "Why don't you uh... take a break! You can watch what happens to Jeffery."

And so he had been ushered out of the room. Though he had not minded, because he had been curious as to how the tiny pixels would manage to escape their imprisonment from the noisy box.

So he sat on the big, squishy seat that Yugi had told him was a couch and watched the box and its inhabitants. It had not been much later when an older man had stepped into the room. Atem had been surprised to see a familiar face. This man looked like one of his advisers, Siamun. Though he had no idea why he had the strange desire to call the old man, Grandpa.

The older man had seemed just as surprised to see him as well, and had greeted him in a peculiar way.

"Yugi, my boy, when did you get a tan?"

He had furrowed his eyebrows and addressed the man with a confused, "I have always been this way."

It was then that Yugi had walked into the room to interrupt the weird reunion of sorts. "All right, I cleaned up the-" The small boy's words had halted abruptly on his tongue as he looked up to stare at the older man. "G-grandpa?! Where did you come from? Why didn't you use the front entrance?"

The older man had stood in place in absolute shock. He had taken a moment to stare back and forth between Atem and Yugi with a hand raised to point at them. He then had mumbled some incoherent gibberish that Atem had not understood before he had promptly fainted.

He distinctly remembered Yugi muttering dark curses under his breath as he had tried to drag the old man off somewhere. Atem had hoped his grandpa was all right.

* * *

Yugi let out a pained groan as he walked down the sidewalk with one paranoid pharaoh in tow. He was slumped forward with his arms hanging limply by his sides. His back was killing him. In fact, every part of him was killing him. He was so sore from having to clean up the house pretty much by himself. He had cuts all over his hands from trying to clean up the glass in a hurry, and his back hurt from all the bending over he had done. Not to mention his back also hurt from having to sleep on the cold, hard floor the night before because Atem just wouldn't have it any other way. The conversation they had had was still fresh in his mind.

 _"Okay, we should probably sleep so we can get up early in the morning to get you some clothes to wear, and I also gotta do some shopping for food. Since, of course, we're kinda out." Yugi explained as he pushed the pile of clothes that littered his floor into his closet as best he could. He placed his hands on his hips and stared down at the increased mess he had made of his floor with the scattered garments. He would have to take the time to put everything back in place, but the idea of trying to clean it up right now just made him feel all the more exhausted._

 _Atem was staring at him from where he stood tall and regal in the center of Yugi's room. Yugi didn't have to see the man's face to know he was puzzled when he heard him say, "All right. Where is my chamber?"_

 _Yugi stopped in his endeavor to just kick the clothes back into the closet to keep himself from having to bend over any more today. Because honestly, he already knew how sore he was going to be in the morning. He then turned to Atem to stare at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Your what now?"_

 _Atem stared back at him as if he was the one who had said something strange. "My chamber. Where shall I sleep?"_

 _"Uh... in here?" Yugi said as he scratched idly at the back of his neck. The shop was kind of small. If Atem was asking for a spare bedroom to sleep in, they unfortunately didn't have one. Atem would have to sleep in this room with him. This realization made him blush slightly. But this was Atem. Technically they had always shared a bed together when the pharaoh had been in the puzzle._

 _"In here? But is this not your chamber?"_

 _"I, well, I guess."_

 _The pharaoh looked perturbed by the notion that he would have to share a bed with Yugi. Yugi watched Atem look over to the bed to give it an intense stare. "It is too small."_

 _Yugi sighed. He was a bit too tired to argue over something so minor. "It'll have to do for now until we figure something else out. Right now I'm really beat." As he said this, he walked over to his bed and plopped down upon it. The soft sheets felt so good as the ache in his muscles eased up. He closed his eyes and let out a relieved breath. Though his moment of peace was short-lived when he heard Atem speak again._

 _"How can one expect me to sleep in such conditions? I am the pharaoh. I require my own chamber." The sound of Atem's voice was petulant and determined._

 _Yugi slowly opened his eyes. He could feel the bags underneath them. He looked over to see Atem had his arms crossed defiantly like a child that wasn't getting his way. "Atem, we don't have a spare room. You're going to have to sleep here tonight. I'm sorry." There really wasn't much Yugi could do about getting a spare room. The pharaoh would just have to make do._

 _Atem looked most displeased with the answer he received. "Then I at least demand to have the bed for myself. I am not a mere servant who shares living quarters."_

 _Yugi sat up on the bed. Now that was just plain unreasonable. "What? Atem... where would I sleep then?"_

 _Atem merely stared around the room with a bored, uninterested expression like some kind of snobbish, entitled, rich kid. "I do not know."_

 _He felt his eyebrow start to twitch. "Atem, you can't have the bed all to yourself. I'm tired, okay? I'm hurting because I had to clean up this whole place, and not to mention I'm going to need all the energy I can get when I have to explain to my grandpa that you're the pharaoh from the puzzle."_

 _Atem had started to pout. Well, as close to pouting as someone as serious and imposing as Atem could get. The pharaoh continued to remain where he was. "I cannot sleep here."_

 _Yugi sent the man an irritated look before he flopped back down onto his bed. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes while he muttered out, "Fine. Have it your way. But I need sleep. You can come sleep too whenever you're ready." He just didn't have it in him to argue with the man. Otherwise, he probably would have given in and let him have it, or tried to coerce him into laying down._

 _For a long moment, Yugi didn't hear Atem so much as make a sound. In that time, Yugi had almost started to feel a little guilty. Perhaps he was being a bit too harsh on Atem. The man did just come back five-thousand years into the future with no memory of anything about it. If it had been him, he probably would have been terrified. Yugi couldn't imagine what kind of trauma the pharaoh's soul must have went through._

 _"To sleep in these conditions is beneath me."_

 _Nope, never mind. He didn't feel guilty at all._

 _Yugi opened his eyes and turned to glare at the pharaoh. "Will you just come over here and sleep?"_

 _He watched as Atem finally complied, however begrudgingly, with his command. The pharaoh walked over to the bed, then proceeded to crawl over Yugi awkwardly to get to the other side. Yugi's eyes scrunched up when he felt Atem knee him in the back and press his hand harshly onto the side of his torso. Finally though, they were both lying down on the bed. Yugi's brow evened out as he let out a relieved sigh._

 _He allowed his eyes to close, reveling in the immediate relief it brought him. All was quiet, and it didn't take him long to nearly fall asleep. That is, until he heard Atem's deep voice from beside him. "I do not approve of these arrangements."_

 _"Oh my_ God _." Yugi groaned out as he rolled off of the bed and stomped over to his closet. He grabbed a spare blanket out of the heap and an extra pillow before he all but threw it on the floor beside his bed. Then laid down on his floor all the while muttering out incoherent things about snobbish pharaohs and being tired._

Yugi continued to walk down the sidewalk feeling horribly weary. Atem just had to be difficult. Though he guessed he should have expected as much. Atem _was_ the ruler of Egypt in his time. The man was probably used to much more lavish things. Regardless of the pharaoh's behavior, he found he did feel a lot better than he had just yesterday morning. A smile found its way to his lips. Being able to see Atem again, to actually have him here with him - with his own body no less - was so comforting. It was like a piece of his soul had come home.

Yugi looked over his shoulder to turn his smile upon his other self. However, Atem hadn't been pang attention to him at all. Yugi noticed the ancient ruler glaring at practically everything and everyone around him. He looked incredibly tense as just about any noise caused the man to jump and spin around. Atem looked like he was ready to fight if he had to.

A car beeped at another on the road adjacent to the sidewalk they were on, and Atem near about jumped several feet in the air.

It took everything Yugi had not to laugh. "Atem? Are you okay?"

Atem quickly turned to him and looked flustered. "These..." He gestured to the cars. "Things that smell of waste keep screaming at each other. Are we truly safe being so close to them? What if they attack?"

Yugi giggled. He couldn't help it. "Atem, it's okay." The pharaoh didn't look sated in the slightest by his consoling words. Atem stared back over to watch the cars warily, as if daring them to move out of line. Yugi continued when it didn't seem like Atem would calm down. "They're not alive or anything. They're just machines. People control them. They won't 'attack' us unless the person inside them tries to run us over or something."

Atem's attention snapped back to Yugi as he stared at him like he had lost his mind. "'Run us over?' Do they intend to do us harm? How could you say this so casually?"

Yugi shrugged. "Well, it helps to know that they'd go to prison if they tried to. And I guess I'm just used to it." Poor Atem looked quite displeased. Yugi smiled at him, and reached out his hand to grasp Atem's in his. "Don't worry pharaoh, I'll protect you!" It was the least he could do for the pharaoh. Back when they had shared a body, Atem had always been the one to protect him. If he could return the favor, and the gesture would perhaps bring some comfort to his other self, he would gladly do it. It was also nice to think that he was the one doing the protecting for once.

At first, Atem had tensed up even more at the contact, but slowly, the tension eased up and the older man finally began to walk normally instead of hunched over and wary.

Yugi's smile brightened as he turned to face ahead of himself with more pep than before. He hadn't even noticed the blush that tinted the pharaoh's cheeks, or the way the man's gaze was fixated on their joined hands.

They were pretty close to the mall now. A little bit more and they could actually get Atem some fitting clothes. Yugi walked along with the pharaoh's hand firmly grasped within his own while he hummed a little tune. Atem had been rather quiet, but Yugi just figured it was because the man was still in a state of shock at seeing all of the high tech things of this time.

Yugi had seen a cyclist coming towards the both of them, and had raised his hand to wave in greeting. He was pleased to note that he didn't have to force himself to do such things anymore. He couldn't remember being this happy since, well, since the first time he had unlocked the secrets of the millennium puzzle.

Had Yugi actually looked over to his right, he would have seen the aggressive stance Atem had taken at also seeing the cyclist coming towards them. But unfortunately, he didn't. Once the person on the bike got too close, Atem had sprung into action.

Before Yugi really knew what was happening, he was yanked hard to the right and fell quite hard on his rear right onto the concrete. But he didn't get much of a chance to even yell out an, "ow" before he had looked up to see the pharaoh roundhouse kick the bike the kid was on. Yugi's eyes widened in shock when he saw the kid and his bike crash onto the sidewalk. Thankfully, the poor guy was wearing a helmet and some knee and elbow pads.

"You will _not_ harm him, _**fiend!**_ "

Yugi's mouth fell open in surprise. He stared at the bike that looked all kinds of totaled, and gulped when he saw the metal was dented, freaking _dented_ , where Atem had kicked it. The kid had managed to get up into a sitting position from where he had tumbled onto the sidewalk. He held his head in his hand a moment before he looked up to Atem to give him a pointed glare.

"The hell is your problem, man?"

Atem matched the glare with an ominous, commanding one of his own. The kid cowered when he saw Atem's clenched fists, straightened back and piercing eyes. "I will not allow you to assault him."

Assault him? Yugi finally managed to shake himself free from his stupor to hastily stand up. He grabbed onto Atem's tense arm to try and get the man's attention. "Wait! Atem! He wasn't trying to assault me!" Yugi hadn't even noticed before how tough and physically fit the pharaoh was. His arm felt like a rock. Yugi vaguely wondered how much he had been holding Atem back with him being trapped within his own fairly lackluster body.

Atem then turned his head to look at Yugi. Once he did, Yugi saw his features immediately soften. "But he was heading straight for you. On that weird contraption."

Yugi let out a sigh. "Pharaoh, that's a bike."

Atem furrowed his brows in suspicion. "The name for it even sounds dangerous."

"It's not! It's just for transportation. You know, to get to places faster. Like a... like a horse!" Yugi tried to reason with a shake of his head. The last thing they'd need was for Atem to see what the inside of jail cell looked like when the kid on the bike pressed charges for assault.

The pharaoh stared down at the bike he had just destroyed. "Oh."

"Oh!?" Both Yugi and Atem stared down at the boy who had been knocked onto the ground because of Atem's sudden outburst. He pointed to his bike that lay not too far from him. "He destroyed my bike! And all you have to say is, 'Oh'?"

Yugi bowed deeply in front of the cyclist as he said, "We are so sorry for the trouble." When Yugi didn't hear Atem so much as utter a peep, he turned his head to stare up at the man. Atem looked bored. He extended an arm to elbow the ancient Egyptian in the side. The pharaoh grunted in disdain, then seemed to realize what the intention of Yugi's action was. He stared down at the boy on the ground.

"I apologize for my transgressions." His tone was anything but apologetic.

Yugi sighed, but figured it was better than nothing.

"Little good an apology does me. It won't fix my damn bike!"

Yugi stood up straight and let out a nervous laugh. "Ah, well, we better get going! Um, have a nice day!" Yugi didn't have enough to pay for a new bike. That thing looked expensive.

He then grabbed the pharaoh by the hand and hastily made his way towards the sanctuary of the mall with the angered shouts of the cyclist trailing after them.

* * *

 _I would greatly appreciate a review! :D_


	4. Chapter 4

_I am so pleased you all like the story so far! Thank you for all the support!_

* * *

Yugi had anticipated the trip through the mall might lead to some interesting events with an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who knew nothing about the time period, but he hadn't even accounted for something to happen so soon. Well, he hadn't thought he wouldn't have been able to get the pharaoh _into_ the building at all.

Honestly, he hadn't even thought about the obstacle they now faced. He was so used to it, that the idea of it being intimidating hadn't crossed his mind. Even for a moment.

"Pharaoh, please, you're embarrassing me." Yugi said from where he stood on the inside of the mall. He attempted to beckon to Atem to come forward, but the ancient ruler wasn't having any of it.

"I am content where I am, thank you."

Atem was standing a relatively far distance away from the building with an agitated look. People walked by him and turned to stare at him occasionally. A lot more people would stare at him when he would take on an aggressive stance whenever they walked up to the doors that parted for them to allow them entrance.

Yes, the automatic doors of the building were the current enemy.

"Pharaoh, they're just doors, okay? It won't hurt you!"

Yugi watched as Atem glared at the doors when a couple walked through them. "What kind of sorcery is at work here?"

He groaned and slapped a hand to his face in embarrassment when a couple of teenagers started to giggle at Atem. "No magic, or anything like that. It's just electricity and stuff! Come on Atem!" As he said this, he tried to wave the man over once more. Atem didn't seem to have any interest in paying attention to him. The man looked like a puffed up cat.

The pharaoh then let out a vexed huff. "I do not trust it."

Yugi ran a hand through his hair. They hadn't even gotten into the mall yet and this was already a challenge. "Here, I'll show you." As Yugi said this, he walked forward to stand in the middle of the automatic doors. He waved his hands about to show the safety of them. "See? It's safe. They won't close on us or anything." When he looked at Atem, he saw the Egyptian had gone completely rigid.

Atem walked forward as if he was approaching a venomous snake. When he was close enough, he grabbed Yugi by the wrist and yanked him to his chest. Yugi let out a yelp as his face planted into the Egyptian. He felt arms wrap snugly around him with vice-like tightness. He let out a strained cough. "Atem... can't... breathe."

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief when Atem let him go. When he looked up, he saw the man's red eyes glaring at him sternly. "Do not do that."

Yugi found himself blushing slightly when he noticed Atem actually looked... worried. It reminded him of all the times Atem had looked out for him in the past. But things were different now. He was more capable than ever to fend for himself. He then stood up a little straighter and pointed to the building. "We need to get you some clothes. The automatic doors are just for convenience! They're not dangerous. I promise!"

Atem continued to look unsure. Yugi watched him glance between him and doors one more time. "Are you certain there is no danger?"

"Don't you trust me?" He asked of the man holding onto him. The pharaoh looked torn for a moment, but eventually, he nodded. Yugi's lips curved up into a bright smile. "Come on, let's go." He took the pharaoh by the hand and led him to the entrance. It took a little bit of force to pull Atem through, but once inside, the man rushed forward. Yugi giggled when Atem looked particularly haggard from the experience. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Teasing a man that could deliver a lethal kick of doom when agitated probably wasn't the best idea Yugi had ever had, but Atem was just making it too hard to resist. Atem grunted, then turned around to send the doors one last withering glare.

Yugi chuckled before he turned his attention to the inside of the mall. He looked around. It seemed to be somewhat crowded today. Yugi walked forward, pulling Atem along with him into an aisle full of clothes.

On the outside of the mall, a couple of bystanders giggled at the pair. A woman spoke to her companion beside her. "Those two are just the cutest little couple."

* * *

Atem felt trapped. Boxed in. Cornered.

Now that the threat of the magically enhanced contraption of evil had passed, he found himself faced with yet another problem. The structure that his charge had brought him into looked far bigger on the inside than it had on the outside. And, with all of its colors and never ending layers of fabric, it looked like some kind of jungle or forest. What was worse, was he could hear the calls and hushed murmurs of its inhabitants – like quiet, dark chanting. It only fueled his belief that they were in some kind of evil, enchanted forest. Yugi did not seem to find any of this troubling at all.

Atem was quick to move out of the way of an older woman who passed by the two of them. She was waving her hands about wildly while she talked and ranted to seemingly no one. He stared at her for a long moment in bewilderment. Were such occurrences of insanity normal for this time?

"Yugi, why is that woman talking to herself? Is she mentally unstable?"

The shorter boy looked up in momentary confusion until he saw the person Atem was speaking of. He went back to searching through the clothes. "Oh, she's talking on her phone with her bluetooth." The boy stated as if it was obvious.

Atem stared at the woman a moment longer before he turned his attention elsewhere. He looked to his left and right and noticed they were flanked by garments on both sides. It was positively stifling. Yugi had walked on ahead of him while he mumbled out random things to himself like, "Now what size shirt should I get him? He kinda looks like a medium. A large might be more comfortable." This had Atem wondering if these things called 'malls' turned people crazy.

Atem was about to follow after Yugi until he heard quiet, high-pitch laughter coming from somewhere deep within the layers of clothes. He was quick to still. As quietly as he could, he turned his head to stare in the direction he thought he had heard the noise come from. His eyes narrowed as his gaze grew suspicious. The laughter quieted down to almost nothing, as if it had noticed it had been caught. There was a tense moment where nothing happened, and Atem reached out his hand to hesitantly grasp a shirt to move it slowly out of the way.

Then suddenly, something flew out of the clothes and startled Atem into stumbling backwards. A face came out between the shirts and shouted out, "Roar!" before quickly darting back inside its hiding spot. Atem was left feeling perturbed before he moved over to the area the little demon had sprang out from and yanked the shirts aside. All he saw was another layer of clothes. Confused, he moved away and walked forward to be near Yugi.

"Yugi," He saw the boy turn around to face him. "I think there are demons lurking within this jungle."

Atem watched Yugi raise an eyebrow at his conclusion. "What?" Just as the shorter boy asked, something had sprung from the clothes and attached itself to Atem's leg.

He flailed his arms around in an attempt to maintain his balance while the little gremlin wrapped around his leg yelled out, "I gotchu!"

From the looks of it, a small child had attached itself to him. The little boy could not have been older than five years. He heard Yugi start to giggle, but disregarded it in favor of flailing. The giggles turned into out-and-out laughter when he yelled out, "Get it off of me!"

"Jeffery! Come over here right now! Stop bothering people." The woman who had been talking to herself had suddenly yelled at the little boy.

Jeffery let out an "Awwww," before he listened to the woman and walked over to her.

When Atem finally managed to calm himself down after the sudden attack, he glanced at Yugi. The shorter boy looked quite amused. Yugi's laughter quieted to chuckles when Atem sent him a glare. "Oh c'mon, that was funny."

Atem did not think so. But as he stared at the beautiful smile on Yugi's lips, he could not help but smile as well. Yugi was just so... Atem could not even think of a word that would properly describe all of what the short man was. Perfection, perhaps? He felt a sense of peace whenever he felt the soft skin of Yugi's hand on his. Whenever the shorter boy pulled him along somewhere, he felt like he could follow the boy to the ends of the Earth and feel content.

And when Yugi smiled, with those eyes full of light and hope, he could feel his heart flutter. He could see the room brighten, but pale completely when next to the radiance that was Yugi.

It had him wondering, how could he possibly have ever lived without him? The light to his darkness. His light.

"Ah, here we go! Here Atem!" Atem was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Yugi's voice. The shorter boy held a simple, white t-shirt in his hands that he put up against Atem's chest to try and get a sense of whether or not it would fit him. "Looks about right." Yugi then folded the shirt over his arm. As Atem stared at the young man who went back to searching through the shirts, he wondered what Yugi thought of _him_. Had his feelings for the other been mutually felt? Yugi had never said he did not feel that way for him. The boy had only said they had been partners. It was a question he would have to remember to ask at a more appropriate time.

"Atem? Yoo hoo, Earth to Atem!" Atem blinked a few times when he saw a hand being waved in front of his face.

"Yes?" He asked when he was able to focus on the smaller one in front of him.

"I was asking if you wanted to take a break and get something to eat. There's a food court in here we can stop at." Yugi had a couple more shirts draped over his arm.

Atem's stomach took this time to voice its approval of such a decision. He saw Yugi grin at him when he felt his face become overly warm. He raised a hand to cough into before he turned his head to look elsewhere, trying to save as much face as he could. Embarrassment was not something he was accustomed to. "Yes, I think that would be satisfactory."

Yugi's grin turned into another one of those innocent, genuine smiles. "All right, let's go."

He followed Yugi wordlessly as he continued to think more on the subject of their relationship. He had not even been aware of anything around him until he had run into Yugi's back. He stumbled backwards a bit before he quirked an eyebrow at his charge. The young man seemed to have a habit of forgetting how to walk.

"Have we made it to this food court already?" When he looked to his left and right, he did not see any food. Only more clothes.

Yugi turned to him with a nervous half-smile. "Um, not quite."

"Why have we stopped then?"

The shorter boy let out a nervous laugh. He then pointed to something in front of them. "Well, it's on the second floor."

Atem tilted his head in confusion. "Second floor?" He then followed the direction in which Yugi was pointing with his eyes. What he saw had him going completely stiff.

Moving stairs... magical stairs that led up to another room were in front of them. Witchcraft.

"It's called an escalator. We need to walk up it to get to the second floor." When Yugi told him this, he moved his gaze back to the smaller boy. Atem's expression said what his stilled lips did not.

 _Oh,_ _ **hell**_ _no._

* * *

They had finally made it to the second floor of this enchanted place Yugi called a mall after they had walked around for twenty or so minutes in search of stairs that were not magically enhanced. In that time, Yugi had started to do a little dance of sorts. It had him worrying over whether or not Yugi was slowly turning into a demon by this strange place's influence.

"Are you all right, Yugi?"

Yugi looked at him urgently while he hopped from foot to foot.

"Ah! I really gotta use the bathroom. It took way too long to get here."

Atem raised an eyebrow. "The bathroom?"

"Pee, I have to pee."

Atem looked down to his stomach when it had yet again made its discomfort known. He looked back up to Yugi's distraught face. "But I require sustenance."

Yugi glared at him. "Oh, don't start."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Start what?" Atem could feel the beginnings of irritation creep up on him. He did not wait on his servants to bring him food. Not that he thought of Yugi as a servant, but the point remained; he needed something to eat. It should be a priority. That was just how it was.

"That! That face. You're starting to act like a little, spoiled brat again." The shorter boy said as he gestured to Atem.

Atem felt affronted by the gesture and the words. "Excuse me?"

He watched as Yugi sighed, then looked around the area. There was a shop not too far from where they were standing with a colorful assortment of knickknacks inside. Yugi ran inside of it, leaving Atem to stand in place in bewilderment at seeing how fast the small boy could move. After a short time, Yugi came back with a bunch of colorful, little things in his hands. They were wrapped up in shiny, little wrappers with fancy words scrawled across their surface. They were like nothing he had ever seen before. Yugi then grabbed him by the hand and started to walk at a rather brisk pace.

"What are those?" He inquired as he allowed himself to be dragged off by the boy.

Yugi did not look behind himself as he said, "Candy."

That term sounded foreign to his ears. "Candy? What is candy?"

"You'll find out."

So Yugi led him to an area that immediately assaulted nearly every sense of him. There were so many people crowded around little tables. So much chatter made him think of the crowded streets of his home back in Egypt, whenever he got the chance to see it outside of his throne room. And the food, it smelled like nothing he had ever smelled before. Salt, lots of salt. It was horribly strong.

Yugi pulled him along and sat him down at one of the vacant tables. Atem eyed the area with apprehension. He was quickly realizing that he did not much care for any of his surroundings at the moment.

"Okay, I'm gonna go use the bathroom."

Atem's gaze snapped to Yugi when he heard him say that. "You are leaving?"

"Only for a second. Here." Yugi placed the colorfully wrapped 'candy' onto the table in front of him. "Eat these for now, I'll be right back." The smaller boy then quickly ran off.

Atem wanted to follow him at first, but was quick to regain his composure. He was the pharaoh. He should act as such. And a pharaoh did not run away scared when faced with uncomfortable situations. Atem looked down at the candy on the table before him. When his stomach grumbled again, he let out a sigh. He would just have to make do until Yugi returned. Carefully, he picked one of the colorful pieces up. After ripping off the wrapping, he moved the candy to his nose to take a hesitant sniff. It smelled awfully sweet. It was a round ball attached to a stick. Most gingerly, he placed it into his mouth to take a bite.

As soon as he bit down, and heard his teeth practically crack in the process, he pulled it immediately out of his mouth. It was as if he was trying to chew on a rock. This thing was edible?

"Hi mister scaredy-cat!" Atem turned his attention away from the candy when he heard a familiar high-pitched voice. He looked down to see the small child that had tried to attack him before. The little boy grinned widely, displaying a crooked set of teeth with a couple missing.

Atem glared at the little demon a moment longer before he looked to the candy in his hand. An idea came to him. He then bent down and handed the small child the supposedly edible rock. "Here, take this. Now be gone, little vermin."

The little boy's face lit up with childish glee. He took the offered candy and ran off screaming out, "Mama, mama! The nice stranger gave me candy!"

Atem shook his head. He did not understand how anyone could get that excited over a sweet smelling rock.

It was then that the sound of laughter attracted his attention. Atem looked over to see a few young-looking kids seated at a table. A group of girls giggling and laughing. He was about to simply look away, but was distracted when he heard the sound of something akin to music start to play from one of their weird devices. It was no tune he had ever heard before. Most of the songs he was used to were sung. But the one they were playing had a melody to it. A rhythm that he was unfamiliar with. It was... kind of entrancing. He found himself listening despite himself.

The longer he listened, however, the more the words being sung started to confuse him. None of them even made coherent sense together. It was just a disjointed mess of syllables with peculiar sounding instruments in the background being used as a way to accentuate the vocals. And what was a milkshake anyway?

The sound of Yugi's voice stole his attention away from the weird song. "Hey, I'm back. Sorry about that. Did you like the candy?" Atem was still lost in his thoughts when he stared up at Yugi in perplexed curiosity. He watched Yugi tilt his head when he did not answer right away. "Uh, Atem? You all right?"

After a moment, he nodded. He could still hear the odd tune in the background of their conversation. "Yes, I have an inquiry about something, if you will indulge me."

Yugi pulled out one of the chairs to sit down across from him. "Okay, shoot."

Atem's eyebrows furrowed. "Shoot?" He realized he was still fairly unaccustomed to the dialect of this day and age. It left him feeling at a bit of a disadvantage. That was another feeling he was not used to.

The shorter boy seemed to notice Atem's troubled state and shook his head with a quirk of his lips. "It's just an expression."

Atem stared at the boy a moment longer before he carried on with his question. "What is a milkshake?"

The question seemed to throw Yugi off guard, for the boy leaned back in his chair with an eyebrow raised. "A milkshake? It's just like, milk and ice mixed up with some other flavor. Like chocolate or strawberry. Why do you want to know that?" Yugi asked, looking confused.

Atem ignored the question in favor of learning more about a milkshake. "Why would a milkshake bring all the boys to the yard?"

Yugi's face turned from confused to completely baffled. "Do what now?"

"Would I go to this yard for this milkshake? And where is this yard?"

"Wait, slow down."

"What if I do not want to go to the yard to be charged for a milkshake?"

Yugi had started to chuckle, even more so when he seemed to also hear the tune playing not too far from them. Atem watched Yugi press a hand to his mouth in an attempt to quell the laughter. "Atem, hold on."

"I'm guessing you can eat this milkshake? It must be good if it attracts _all_ the boys."

Yugi could not seem to contain his humor any longer. He was quite unintelligible with the laughing fit he was currently engaged in. Atem huffed in vexation. He wanted to know if he should be wary of the allure of this 'milkshake,' yet Yugi seemed perfectly content with his laughing. Atem puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. Cute or not, loved or unloved, he did not much care for Yugi's blatant amusement at his expense. What _was_ so funny anyway? His light looked near to tears with how reddened his face had gotten.

"Oh... my... _god_." Atem looked over when he heard a feminine voice not too far away from the table Yugi and him were seated at. He caught sight of one of the young girls that had been playing the weird melody standing near him. Her expression was one of pure delight as she stared at him with what Atem could only assume was barely suppressed glee. She had her hands pressed firmly to her cheeks with some of the biggest eyes he had ever seen. "You are _drop dead_ _ **gorgeous**_."

Atem scrunched his face up in irritated confusion. He stared back at her a moment before he asked, "Why would you drop dead from my attractiveness? Are you ill?"

It was then that Yugi laughed so hard, he promptly fell off his seat.

* * *

Yugi pushed open the door to the Kame Game shop with his back as his hands were too full of bags of varying sizes. He was beat. So much more than he had been earlier this morning. If he thought he could feel every ache-y muscle in his body before, it was nothing compared to the strain he was feeling now. Today had been rather eventful. More so than he had expected, and he was definitely feeling the effects of it. Yugi trudged through the shop to get to the kitchen. He was practically dragging the bags along the floor as he did so.

They had left the mall shortly after the incident in the food court. After getting something to eat, they had left much sooner than Yugi would have liked, because Atem wouldn't stop complaining he was, _"Far too full and tired to deal with anymore magic and demons for the day."_ Big talk coming from the man who hadn't had to sleep on the floor the night before, and who also _didn't carry a single thing throughout the entire trip_ _._

Afterwards, Yugi had decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up just a few things. He had left Atem outside. Mostly because he figured the both of them had had enough excitement for one day.

Yugi grumbled under his breath all the way to the kitchen. Atem was behind him with, of course, nothing in his hands. He walked gracefully in the direction Yugi was headed.

Once they were in the kitchen, Yugi moved to the counter. With all the strength he could muster, he attempted to hoist the bags up onto it. He swore he heard something pop during the action. Unfortunately, he could barely lift them up halfway. He let out a strained groan when they fell back onto the floor. His arms felt like dead weight. Atem had been watching him silently. Yugi sent the man an irritated glare.

"You can help, you know."

Atem had that look on his face that Yugi was quickly recognizing as his, _"I'm so important and noble I practically shit gold. How dare you ask me that."_ look.

"I do not partake in the menial tasks of a servant."

Yugi let out a defeated sigh. "Of course you don't." He made another attempt to lift the bags up onto the counter, and met with little success. Another groan escaped him as he closed his weary eyes. He loved that Atem was back in the present with him. Truly, he did. But this side of him was quite a handful. He wasn't used to the pharaoh being so... spoiled. "You were so much easier to deal with when you were inside of me." Seriously, the pharaoh was getting on his near last nerve. Normally he wouldn't have minded, but he could barely lift the bags at all. The man could at least take a second to stop being entitled and help him out.

"What?" It was from that question of Atem's - the evident intrigue in his tone - that Yugi's last statement fully registered in his tired mind.

He felt his face flush hot. He couldn't believe he just said that. _To Atem._ What in the world was he thinking? Apparently nothing much.

"I, uh, I mean... my head. When you were in my head. Holy crap I really just said that." The heat in his face wouldn't lessen, and when he caught sight of Atem's expression that changed from snobby to curious, he only blushed more.

And what was worse, Atem seemed to be thinking about the statement. "Inside of you?" Yugi needed to find some water, immediately, because his face must surely be on fire. "Yugi," The ancient ruler lifted a hand to stroke at his chin in deep thought, and Yugi felt all the more embarrassed during the prolonged pause. "Have we engaged in sexual intercourse?"

Yugi spluttered and fumbled with the plastic of the bags' handles. They slipped from his suddenly clammy hands as he attempted to shout out, "What?! No!" Though he wondered if it had even been coherent with how his voice had raised several octaves. Honestly, the pharaoh didn't know what a milkshake was, didn't know what candy was, called a five-year-old a demon, but made the connection of, 'inside of you,' as something sexual? How conveniently _not_ convenient.

"Oh." Atem said, a little put-off. Yugi wasn't sure if it was just him or not, but did Atem actually seem... disappointed?

Yugi tried to keep a hold on as much dignity as he could as he said, "Will you just help me with these? Please?"

Yugi watched Atem eye him a moment with a calculating gaze. He felt like nothing more than an ant right now in the ancient Egyptian's presence. The silence felt suffocating. Or maybe that feeling was coming from his face still being _on fire_. He wouldn't have been surprised if the fire alarm had started to beep from the steam that must be rolling off of him. Finally, the pharaoh started to move. He walked over to Yugi, and bent down to pick up the bags. In just one effortless motion, the pharaoh picked them up and placed them on the counter. The closeness was enough to make Yugi's heart pick up its pace.

"The deed has been done." Atem said as he backed away from the counter to continue to stare at him. Yugi didn't like all the attention. The pharaoh stood there, just staring at him with those magnificently intense eyes that he was used to seeing directed at another opponent, not _him_.

"Thanks..." The awkward atmosphere just wouldn't fade. Yugi stared down at the floor and willed the heat in his face to cool and his heart to slow down.

"Yugi?" Yugi looked back up at the ancient ruler. He really didn't like the curious look on the man's face. There was another long, deliberate pause before Atem started, "Are you sure-"

"Yes! Yes I'm sure!" He shouted out louder than was probably necessary. When he felt something wet at his nose, his eyes widened. Yugi lifted his hand to wipe at the area. When he moved his hand away and saw blood on his fingers, his eyes widened even more. He let out an embarrassed squeak and quickly ran out of the room.

* * *

Yugi plopped down onto his bed and allowed himself to fall back against the comforter, letting out a miserable groan as he did so. That man would surely be the death of him. Whether by causing him to laugh himself to death, or... - he took a moment to lift a tissue he had bundled up to wipe at his previously bleeding nose - or by brain aneurysm.

He let out a pitiful whine. He still couldn't believe he had embarrassed himself so thoroughly in front of Atem. He hadn't even thought of what he was saying before he said it. Seriously, when Atem was _inside of him_? He couldn't have picked a worse wording.

 _When Atem was inside of him._

That thought caused another blush to rush to his cheeks. Why did that one sentence make feel all... shy? Aside from the sexual innuendo, of course. But the idea of Atem being the one _inside of him_ just made him feel...

He let out an, "eep" as he felt blood rush up a little too quickly to his head to cause the heat to worsen. Perhaps this was a thought he should consider more later. Yugi was rescued from his thoughts when his phone began to vibrate on top of his desk.

Yugi sat up and reached for the device. He noticed he had several messages from his friends. It was then that he realized he had forgotten to take his phone with him when he had brought Atem to the mall. A lot of the messages were from Joey. Most of them asking where he was, and asking how he was doing.

 _That's right!_ He hadn't even mentioned to them at all that Atem was back. They would definitely want to know the man was here. He started up a message to send to Joey.

" _Hey! Sorry I haven't called. How about we all meet up tomorrow? There's actually something I need to tell you. And no, I didn't die from pizza withdrawals."_

He then hit send, and placed his phone back atop his desk. A sigh found its way through his parted lips. He should probably go check on Atem. There was no telling what the man would get himself into without supervision. With that thought in mind, Yugi stood up from his bed to go in search of the five-thousand year old pharaoh.

* * *

 _The pharaoh will now get to be reintroduced to the gang next! Wooo. I would greatly appreciate a review!_


End file.
